The floor drops away and you are suddenly 20 meters above a tulip field. Wind hits your face. There is a faint smell of flowers — not the fake perfume-counter kind, but something earthier, greener, like you stuck your head into a greenhouse. Your feet are dangling over nothing. And your brain, which knows perfectly well you are inside a building in Amsterdam Noord, goes completely quiet for about four seconds while it tries to figure out what just happened.
That is This Is Holland in a nutshell. It is a 5D flight simulation ride that takes you soaring over the Netherlands — windmills, canals, coastline, cities — while wind, mist, and scents hit you from every direction. The whole thing lasts maybe eight minutes. It stays with you a lot longer than that.
I went in expecting a tourist trap. I walked out trying to figure out how to convince my friends who think they have already “done” Amsterdam to go back just for this. The flight footage is shot from helicopters and drones, and the physical effects — the wind shifting direction, mist on your skin, actual scents timed to what you are flying over — turn it into something that photographs and YouTube clips cannot prepare you for.
Best overall: This Is Holland 5D Flight Experience Entry Ticket — $28. The standard ticket on GetYourGuide. Straightforward, well-priced, and includes the full pre-show plus flight.
Best combo deal: This Is Holland 5D Flight + Canal Cruise Combo — $42. Bundles the flight with a one-hour canal cruise. Saves you about ten euros compared to booking separately.
Alternative platform: This Is Holland via Viator — $28.42. Nearly identical experience, different cancellation policy. Good if you already have Viator credits.
- How the Ticket System Works
- Online Tickets vs Walk-Up: What Actually Changes
- The Best This Is Holland Tickets to Book
- 1. This Is Holland 5D Flight Experience Entry Ticket —
- 2. This Is Holland 5D Flight + Canal Cruise Combo —
- 3. This Is Holland via Viator — .42
- When to Visit This Is Holland
- How to Get There
- Tips That Will Save You Time
- What You Will Actually Experience Inside
- More Amsterdam Guides
How the Ticket System Works
This Is Holland sells tickets both on-site and through online platforms like GetYourGuide and Viator. Booking online is the smarter move for two reasons: you save a few euros off the walk-up price, and you skip the ticket queue entirely. On busy days — weekends, school holidays, rainy afternoons when every tourist in Amsterdam decides to go indoors — that queue can stretch 15 to 20 minutes.
When you book, you pick a time slot. Flights run every 15-20 minutes throughout the day, and each session holds a set number of riders. Once your slot is full, it is full. The experience itself runs about an hour total: there is a pre-show section with interactive exhibits about Dutch history and culture, then the main 5D flight, then a gift shop exit. The actual flight portion is around eight minutes, but the pre-show adds genuine value — it is not just filler before the ride.
Standard adult tickets run around $28 through GetYourGuide. Children (4-12) get a discount, and kids under 4 ride free if they sit on a parent’s lap. There is a minimum height requirement of 1 meter for safety on the flight seats.
Online Tickets vs Walk-Up: What Actually Changes
The experience is identical whether you book through GetYourGuide, Viator, or buy at the door. The only differences are price, cancellation flexibility, and waiting time.
Online booking gives you a guaranteed time slot, a lower price (typically 10-15% off walk-up), and the ability to cancel for free up to 24 hours in advance. You show your phone at the entrance and walk straight to the pre-show area. If your plans change — and plans in Amsterdam change constantly, because the weather has opinions — you are covered.
Walk-up tickets cost full price and depend on availability. On quiet weekday mornings, you will walk right in. On a rainy Saturday in July, you might wait half an hour or find the next three time slots sold out. It is not a gamble worth taking when online tickets cost less and take 30 seconds to book.
The combo ticket that bundles This Is Holland with a one-hour canal cruise is worth considering if you have not done a canal tour yet. At $42, it saves you roughly ten euros versus booking the flight and cruise separately, and it is a natural pairing — fly over the canals, then float through them.
The Best This Is Holland Tickets to Book
1. This Is Holland 5D Flight Experience Entry Ticket — $28
This is the one to get if you just want the core experience and nothing else. The standard entry ticket through GetYourGuide covers the full interactive pre-show and the 5D flight. At $28 per person for about an hour of entertainment, it sits comfortably in the same price range as other Amsterdam attractions — cheaper than the Rijksmuseum and about the same as the Van Gogh Museum.
The massive number of people who have done this and come back happy tells you something. This is the best-reviewed way to book, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before your slot. Pick a time, show up, fly over Holland. Simple.
2. This Is Holland 5D Flight + Canal Cruise Combo — $42
The combo ticket bundles the 5D flight with a one-hour Amsterdam canal cruise, and the pairing makes more sense than you would expect. You fly over the canal ring in the ride, then an hour later you are actually sitting on the water looking up at the same buildings. The perspective flip is genuinely satisfying.
At $42 per person, it is about ten euros cheaper than booking the flight and a canal cruise separately. The canal cruise operates from a dock near Centraal Station, so logistics work naturally — do This Is Holland first, ferry back to Centraal, and catch the cruise. Both include free cancellation, so you are not locked in if weather or energy levels force a change of plans.
3. This Is Holland via Viator — $28.42
This is essentially the same ticket as option one, just booked through Viator instead of GetYourGuide. The price difference is negligible — a few cents — and the experience is identical. Where it gets interesting is the cancellation policy: Viator offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before, same as GYG, but their customer service processes tend to differ if something goes wrong.
Choose this if you already use Viator regularly, have credits or gift cards on the platform, or prefer their app interface. There is no wrong answer between this and the GYG ticket — it is the same ride, same building, same eight minutes of flying over Dutch landscapes with wind in your hair.
When to Visit This Is Holland
This Is Holland is open daily, typically from 10:00 AM to 18:00 (last entry around 17:00), though hours can extend during summer and school holidays. Check the official site or your booking platform for the exact schedule on your travel dates.
Best time to go: Weekday mornings, right when they open. The first few time slots of the day are usually the quietest, which means shorter waits between the pre-show stations and a calmer overall experience. You will share the flight with fewer people, and the staff tends to be more relaxed and chatty.
Worst time to go: Weekend afternoons and any rainy day. Amsterdam has an indoor-attraction problem when the weather turns — everyone has the same idea at the same time. Rainy Saturdays in the 13:00-15:00 window are peak chaos.
Seasonal note: The ride itself does not change with seasons, but visiting in spring (April-May) means you might see actual tulip fields on your way to the venue, which is a nice echo of the flight footage. The area around This Is Holland in Amsterdam Noord is also pleasant for a walk in warmer months.
How to Get There
This Is Holland is in Amsterdam Noord, directly behind Amsterdam Centraal Station — but across the water. The IJ river separates Noord from the city center, and the free GVB ferry is how you cross it.
From Amsterdam Centraal: Walk through or around the station to the ferry terminal on the north side (IJ side). Take the free Buiksloterweg ferry — it runs every 5 to 8 minutes and takes about 3 minutes to cross. When you step off on the Noord side, This Is Holland is immediately visible. The whole journey from the station platform to the venue entrance takes about 10 minutes.
By bike: You can cycle across the ferry (bikes ride free too) and lock up at the venue. There is bike parking right outside. The ride from anywhere in central Amsterdam to the Centraal ferry terminal is straightforward, and from there it is the same ferry-and-walk routine.
By car: There is paid parking at the venue, but driving in Amsterdam is rarely worth the stress. The ferry is faster, free, and more scenic. If you absolutely must drive, plug in “Overhoeksplein 51, Amsterdam” for navigation.
Tips That Will Save You Time
- Book online in advance. Lower price, guaranteed time slot, no ticket queue. There is genuinely no reason to buy at the door.
- Arrive 10-15 minutes before your time slot. You need time to check in and start the pre-show section. Arriving late means missing the interactive exhibits, which are actually worth seeing.
- The pre-show is part of the experience. Do not rush through it to get to the ride. The exhibits about Dutch water management, history, and culture give the flight context. Without them, you are just watching aerial footage. With them, every landscape you fly over means something.
- Kids need to be 1 meter tall for the flight seats. Younger children can sit on a parent’s lap, but they will not get the full suspended-in-the-air feeling.
- If you get motion sick easily, you will probably be fine here — it is gentler than a roller coaster, more like a smooth glide. But if aerial footage on big screens genuinely affects you, sit toward the center of the row where the motion feels least extreme.
- Combine it with Amsterdam Noord. The area has grown massively in the past few years. The EYE Film Museum is right next door, A’DAM Lookout (with its rooftop swing) is a short walk away, and there are good restaurants and bars along the waterfront. Make an afternoon of it rather than just doing the ride and leaving.
- The gift shop at the exit sells Dutch souvenirs at tourist prices. You can skip it guilt-free.
What You Will Actually Experience Inside
This Is Holland splits into two parts: the pre-show and the flight. Both matter, and skipping the first to rush to the second is a mistake I have seen people make.
The pre-show is a series of interactive rooms that walk you through Dutch history, culture, and the country’s relationship with water. It is not a dry museum experience — the exhibits use projections, touchscreens, and physical installations to keep things moving. You learn why the Netherlands exists at all (spoiler: relentless engineering against the sea), why the Golden Age happened, and how a country smaller than West Virginia became one of the most influential trading nations in history. Budget about 20-25 minutes here.
The 5D flight is the main event. You sit in a curved row of seats that lifts off the ground, suspending you in front of a massive curved screen. The footage, shot from helicopters and drones, takes you over the entire country: the Amsterdam canal ring, the tulip fields around Lisse, the Kinderdijk windmills, the Delta Works, the coastline, Zaanse Schans, Rotterdam’s skyline, and more. Wind matches your flight speed and direction. Mist hits your face when you skim over water. Scents change — flowers, sea air, fresh grass — timed to what is below you.
The whole flight lasts about eight minutes, and it goes fast. There is a genuine sense of scale that screens alone cannot create — when you bank over the Afsluitdijk or drop toward the Rotterdam harbor, the combination of the suspended seats, the wind, and the curved screen tricks your brain completely. My palms were sweating during the descent over the Delta Works, which I was not expecting from what I thought would be a glorified IMAX experience.
More Amsterdam Guides
If you are spending a few days in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum are both essential and need advance tickets too — our guides cover the same skip-the-queue strategies. A canal cruise pairs naturally with This Is Holland (the combo ticket handles this), and the Anne Frank House is the one attraction where booking early genuinely matters — tickets sell out weeks ahead. For getting out of the city, Zaanse Schans and Keukenhof are both featured in the 5D flight, so visiting them after the ride feels like stepping into the footage. And if you want to explore Amsterdam on foot or by taste, our walking tour and food tour guides break down the best options.
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This Is Holland sits in Amsterdam-Noord, right next to the A’DAM Lookout — real panoramic views and simulated aerial views within walking distance of each other, which is a combination worth doing. The Upside Down Amsterdam shares the same playful energy and is back on the south side of the IJ. For a more grounded Dutch experience, the Heineken Experience covers beer history in a building that has been brewing since 1867, and the Johan Cruyff Arena tour adds football to the mix if you want a full day of distinctly Dutch attractions.